Would you like to be a ShoeMoney Contributing Writer?

Do You Need A Scandal?

When Tiger Woods had his huge scandal last summer, I told many people this was going to make him a much bigger super star then ever before. Now Tiger is back to dominating the golf course and sponsors are coming back bigger than ever.

Kanye West became a household name with his statement of “George Bush hates black people” on national TV. A couple years after that, he came out and said the MTV music awards were rigged and staged when Britney beat him out. Kanye was the talk of the interweb last year when he interrupted Taylor Swift, claiming that she did not deserve the award because his friend Beyoncé had “the best video of all time.” He does an amazing job of always keeping his name in the press.

Chris Brown beat up his girlfriend. This got national press. As a father of 2 daughters, every time I hear his song I think about what I would do to him if he beat up one of my daughters…. But he makes good music and remains on my shower/sing-a-long playlist. Ya, I know…

Britney stays in the headlines by being a complete white trash loser. But I like her and her music.

But before Tiger Woods, many years ago there was this NBA star named Michael Jordan who cheated on his wife…

Ok, but does the same apply to products?

When I was a kid (1982), I remember bottles of Tylenol had been tampered with and laced with cyanide. Many people died and it remained the top news story for months. Nobody was ever charged for the crime and it remains unsolved.

96 Comments

I think bad press for a small company would be devastating. When you’re already big and credible, any press is good press.

Bad press only works for small companies when its something controversial, i.e. remember the Ghetto-nopoly? Do you remember when Jeremy Schoemaker cheated on his wife, beat up a groupie, shot out some tires of plane he hijacked and locked all the passengers on-board and made them read all his blog posts with a cracked kindle screen??? 😛

As far as places where scandals don’t work: politics. Think about Bill Clinton. It finished his political career.

At the moment we have the QANTAS engine blowing up. They are made by Rolls Royce and since that time every airline in the world that uses these engines has been saying “Its Rolls Royce’s fault” over and over again. I guarantee you the next wave of Jets won’t have RR engines.

It totally depends on your product. If you are a sportsperson then cheating on your wife is no drama really because sportspeople think he’s a playa.

I feel sorry for anyone who goes out and hurts people to get press.

Tyrant

November 10, 2010

sasha_482

A little bad press wouldn’t hurt IF you can quickly do something to counter it. But a scandal could be a major setback.

November 9, 2010

Big Al

I see your point. But I would prefer a less troublesome way to get publicity for my business.

the antennagate from apple… apple sold more iphones then never lol … facebook and privacy lool facebook has more pageviews then never lolll only the media care about those stories … real people do not care … of course you need to handle bad press but overall most brands survive !!!

November 9, 2010

Kev

Any press is good press.

November 9, 2010

Runs With Scissors

That’s if you have a good public relations team.

November 9, 2010

Georgie

I had to double check that this wasn’t a guest post. I hate for this to be a combo-breaker comment between all the nuthuggers but ARE YOU HIGH?!

You think the Tynenol murders and Bridgestone tyres exploding are good for those companies *bottom line*, with big brands developed over many years. You don’t tink some old Granny never bought Tylenol again because of it? You don’t think the recall cost J&J a fortune?

I agree that any press is good for unknown companies with no brand and stuff like that but your examples were awful.

November 9, 2010

AL0101

The Tiger Woods, Britney Spears, Kanye West examples should have been enough.

November 9, 2010

GQmeansGeek

And don’t forget Chris Brown. I sure hope he learned his lesson from that scandal. Only wimps beat women.

November 9, 2010

Dmitrii Anastas

I found this interesting article from the Washington Post that I thought was worth checking out. Yet another perspective, on how Crisis PR really isn’t doing its job anymore. Some fiascos are just too big. Think: BP.

Raj

Ethan

It serves the same purpose. To get noticed.

November 9, 2010

I dunno

Tiger is not back to dominating the golf course. He is currently mired in the worst streak in his career.

As far as Tylenol and Bridgestone go…You ask “How many of them are much bigger today than when their scandal hit?” My answer: Both of these companies are. However, they are not as big as they could have been had these scandals not hit. These two lost money in the short and long term because of these scandals.

Tiger, too.

November 9, 2010

spameater

I agree. I don’t think anyone would want a scandal for self-promotion. Kanye West is an exception, of course.

November 9, 2010

melg

Some of those who have been embroiled in controversies and bad publicity are able to bounce back while others fade away. That’s the reality of every scandal.

November 9, 2010

Kyle

I kind of agree with your statement. You know…. you could argue both sides of this. Maybe the answer is… a scandal has its pros and cons for businesses. We’re certainly talking about these things, years after the fact.

November 9, 2010

Mike

I wouldn’t agree with you about any press being good press… at least for Tiger. His endorsements took a huge hit, and him and his endorsements have not come back, yet.

November 9, 2010

TheSandMan5050

It’ll take a while before he completely recovers from it.

November 9, 2010

Angelo

Bad press is certainly bad if the brand can’t take the hit. For a small business or someone who isn’t a multi-platinum artist it can be the death of them.

November 9, 2010

Alan Alan

You can’t just let bad press slip and stay into people’s consciousness. Most of the time, you’d need to counter it. A waste of time and money.

November 9, 2010

SmallBiz Sue

That’s true. Any hint of scandal concerning the products I’m offering could be really bad for business.

Nicole Burns

Agreed….im about to do some chalk marketing..that alone maybe piss off some people but im hoping to get a story about it locally.

I was actually part of a site that..was causing some local issues do to gossip…and 1 day it hit the all the news stations and print in my area. as BAD as the press was..it even made the 1st page of AOL for a day…for about 2wks because of the press..we were getting about 40k daily uniques.

November 9, 2010

AnnieP78

Good or bad publicity is still publicity. But when mired in a scandal or any form of negative press, it’s best to do some immediate damage control especially if people’s lives and safety are at stake.

November 9, 2010

ExclaimedIdeas

This is like the other side of the coin of yesterday’s post. So, have you gone through some scandals of your own, Jeremy?

November 9, 2010

Husher50

Scandals can test a person or a company’s resilience. They should not be actively sought but when they happen, it’s best to ride the wave and try fix the problem.

November 9, 2010

AnnieLouJ12860

The Chicago Tylenol murders was out of J&J’s control but it certainly tested their crisis management skills. Was the extortionist/killer charged?

November 9, 2010

MVZP_01

Anything can happen to any person or business. It’s the ability to survive the onslaught of bad press and repair the damage that separates the successful people/companies from the rest.

November 9, 2010

WhateverWorks

It takes time and a lot of resources to fix a problem any scandal would cause. If bad publicity comes, then deal with it but to actually need or want it is too risky.

November 9, 2010

Willow

I remember that incident very well. It gave us quite a scare. My mom didn’t buy Tylenol again for a good long while.

November 9, 2010

F2Xsites

I know I don’t. 🙂 Let others attract all the scandals they want. I’ll be much better off watching from the sidelines.

November 9, 2010

Rylan Howie

It sure can make life more interesting no matter which way the scandal swings.

November 9, 2010

David

I once read an old story, maybe it’s fake in and of itself, about someone complaining to their agent that the press was talking bad about them. The agent replied that they shouldn’t worry about it. It’s when the press STOPS talking about you that you should worry.

November 9, 2010

internetFTW

At the end of the day, it all depends on the nature of the scandal itself. People have long memories especially when it comes to unethical behaviors and gross negligence. Inviting any form of scandal for publicity’s sake is a huge risk.

November 9, 2010

John Dillon

I doubt if there’s any sane person who’d take the risk of losing money, and possibly his/her business, for the sake of publicity.

November 9, 2010

Ara600_m1

I think no person or company has a built-in immunity to potential scandals. But many manage to avoid any form of bad press by knowing and managing risks involved in their respective businesses.

November 9, 2010

Jason S.

That’s why it pays to walk the extra mile to mitigate risks. It could save you a lot of headache.

November 9, 2010

Bowie

expect the unexpected

November 9, 2010

Bryan Jake T

Off topic. Any updates on the ASW freebies I’ve heard you’re giving away?

November 9, 2010

New Bee

I’ve always wanted to attend the Affiliate Summit. I hope I get to win those freebies you’re referring to. 😀

November 9, 2010

ILoveMemes

As long as celebrities’ scandals don’t impact other people’s lives in a bad way then I think it’s okay. But for products or services, I’d rather purchase those I know I could trust.

November 9, 2010

Vince

Usefulness, quality, and trustworthiness. Some things are non-negotiable.

November 9, 2010

Jim Petersen

Recurring bad press could be indicative of a bigger problem.

November 9, 2010

Andrew Says So

There is no good or bad publicity. Just publicity.

November 9, 2010

Get That Ball

something to chew on

November 9, 2010

PokeYerFace

Good point, Jeremy. Still, I believe in karma so a scandal isn’t something I’d wish even for my enemies.

November 9, 2010

BearPile

Reading bad press and actually experiencing it are two entirely different things. I don’t mind bad publicity as long as I’m not in the middle of it.

November 9, 2010

Nikki Stewart

I’m sure there are many people who share the same sentiment.

November 9, 2010

Feeding Frenzy

Much like all kinds of problems, a scandal offers an opportunity to evaluate current practices that hinder you or your company from progressing. If there’s not much loss involved then I’d say that it’s not entirely a bad thing.

November 9, 2010

Fields of Clover

For as long as the reason for the bad press isn’t something that would put other people’s lives in danger then, yes, I don’t think it’s totally bad.

November 9, 2010

Gabby Dell from SC

They make interesting topics for people to talk about.

November 9, 2010

B.Logan

Anything can happen so it’s best to be prepared to handle all sorts of problems such as bad press.

November 9, 2010

AurorMine

Any form of scandal can serve as a test of a company’s resiliency. It could be a wake up call for change.

November 9, 2010

Melanie Johnson

While negative publicity is not altogether a bad thing, it could still undo or undermine your work.

November 9, 2010

Austin

The likes of Kanye West doesn’t seem to mind.

November 9, 2010

Richard Pascal

Interesting perspective.

November 9, 2010

Tool

Reputation management can mitigate risks of bad press getting out of hand. It could mean additional cost for a company but it’s well worth the investment.

When it comes to celebrities, it really depends on which celebrity it is.

Chris Brown’s career definitely did get hit in a negative way. He even said it on his own site that radio stations weren’t playing his songs & literally begged his fans to request his songs. When he would release singles, all anyone went on about was how he hit Rhianna & that he didn’t deserve his career.

Daryl Hannah claimed she was blacklisted in Hollywood which is why her career hasn’t been as hot as it was back in the 80’s/early 90’s.

Britney Spears was a huge mess in 2007/2008, but her album “Blackout” still did well with hardly ANY publicity. “Circus” also did really well & even broke a few records [she has since then cleaned up her act though.]

Madonna has had lord knows how many scandals & she still makes bank to this day.

I think if the fans are loyal enough, they will buy albums, movie tickets, ect. regardless of what the celebrity did or whether they get good publicity or not.

November 9, 2010

Mark Mead

Does anyone watch Madmen? Of course you do… Remember the episode when the team hired two women to get in a fight over the last Christmas ham? Don Draper believes that any press is good press.

November 9, 2010

BigMoneyBrooklyn

Kanye can do no wrong. He acts like an @ss, but people keep buying his music. No one cares. His product overrides his stupid behavior. Same with Britney. The companies listed, on the other hand, had to spend a fortune in crisis PR to get past those fiascos. Those disasters could have sunk those companies.

November 9, 2010

Almira Keefe

Think about a few more pros that have finessed some recent disasters. Remember Richard Richard Branson of Virgin and John Armitt of Network Rail’s response after the Grayrigg rail disaster? And what about US Airways handling of the media after their crash landing on the Hudson river? US Air finessed that into practically a story of preparation, featuring a highly trained pilot and staff. US Air looked amazing… even though they crashed into the Hudson River!

November 9, 2010

Rod S. Lee

A few of these companies just flat out lost trust. I wonder how long it took Tylenol to get back on track? And how the hell would they spin that today? Can you imagine the digital slaughter they would receive today? Geez… They would have to get a new name.

November 9, 2010

Lola Dee

I need a scandal! I REALLY need a scandal! 😉

November 9, 2010

WilmaP

I think that news is so sensationalized these days, that the press just feeds off of anything. It’s almost to an advantage, like you said, to have a problem. Totally backwards.

joe

Joe,
Notice that Jeremy left it open when he asked “OK, but does the same apply to products?” I think in most cases it does not.
The foundation of an airline company’s success lies with the trust passengers have in the safety of that airline. So when a ValueJet plane took a dive into the Everglades killing a bunch of people, that erodes trust in the brand.
The success of an entertainer, e.g. Tiger Woods, Kanye West, Chris Brown, etc., lies to a significant extent in the publicity they generate.
It also depends on the extent of the scandal. If Tiger Woods was kidnapping children and forcing them to be a captive in his cabin for years at a time, the response would be different than it was to his promiscuity with consenting adults.

These are bigtime scandals! The people involved in these issues were actually not thinking. Come on, they are “famous”. One wrong move will give them a once in lifetime fame, but what they did are entertaining to some people.